The hate crime bill had languished in Congress for over seven years, but was finally fast-tracked to approval after the attack. It cleared its final hurdle with a 25-3 vote in the Senate. This prompted supporters to compare Mr Zamudio to murdered Wyoming teen Matthew Shepard.

The convicted men are Patricio Ahumada, Alejandro Angulo, Raúl López and Fabián Mora, who were all between the ages of 19 and 25 years old at the time of the attack.